Receiver circuit

Abstract

A receiver system comprising: an input terminal configured to receive input signalling comprising a plurality of antenna-signals, wherein the plurality of antenna-signals each comprise information that corresponds to a first-frequency-bin and a second-frequency-bin. AoA-blocks can determine a first-angle-of-arrival and a second-angle-of-arrival associated with the first- and second-frequency-bins. A first-weighting-determination-block configured to, based on the first-angle-of-arrival and the second-angle-of-arrival, either: set first-weighting-values as values for constructively combining the information that corresponds to the first-frequency-bins of the plurality of antenna-signals; or set first-weighting-values as values for destructively combining the information that corresponds to the first-frequency-bins of the plurality of antenna-signals.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A receiver system comprising:
 an input terminal configured to receive input signalling comprising a plurality of antenna-signals, each received at a different antenna, wherein the plurality of antenna-signals each comprise information that corresponds to a first-frequency-bin and a second-frequency-bin; 
 a first-AoA-block configured to determine a first-angle-of-arrival associated with the first-frequency-bin; 
 a second-AoA-block configured to determine a second-angle-of-arrival associated with the second-frequency-bin; 
 a first-weighting-determination-block configured to, based on the first-angle-of-arrival and the second-angle-of-arrival, either:
 set first-weighting-values as values for constructively combining the information that corresponds to the first-frequency-bins of the plurality of antenna-signals; or 
 set first-weighting-values as values for destructively combining the information that corresponds to the first-frequency-bins of the plurality of antenna-signals; 
 
 a first-weighting-application-block configured to apply the first-weighting-values to the information that corresponds to the first-frequency-bin in the plurality of antenna-signals in order to provide a weighted-first-frequency-bin-signal; 
 a second-weighting-determination-block configured to set second-weighting-values as values for constructively combining the information that corresponds to the second-frequency-bins of the plurality of antenna-signals; 
 a second-weighting-application-block configured to apply the second-weighting-values to the information that corresponds to the second-frequency-bin in the plurality of antenna-signals in order to provide a weighted-second-frequency-bin-signal; 
 a signal-combining-block configured to combine the weighted-first-frequency-bin-signal and the weighted-second-frequency-bin-signal in order to provide output-signalling. 
 
     
     
       2. The receiver system of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the first-AoA-block comprises an outer-first-AoA-block configured to determine an outer-first-angle-of-arrival associated with an outer-subset of the first-frequency-bin; 
 the first-weighting-determination-block is configured to set the set first-weighting-values based on the outer-first-angle-of-arrival and the second-angle-of-arrival; and 
 the first-weighting-application-block is configured to apply the first-weighting-values to the information that corresponds to the entire first-frequency-bin in the plurality of antenna-signals in order to provide the weighted-first-frequency-bin-signal. 
 
     
     
       3. The receiver system of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the second-AoA-block comprises a middle-second-AoA-block configured to determine the second-angle-of-arrival based on a middle-subset of the second-frequency-bin; and 
 the second-weighting-application-block is configured to apply the second-weighting-values to the information that corresponds to the entire second-frequency-bin in the plurality of antenna-signals in order to provide the weighted-second-frequency-bin-signal. 
 
     
     
       4. The receiver system of  claim 1 , wherein the first-weighting-determination-block is configured to set first-weighting-values based on whether or not a difference between the first-angle-of-arrival and the second-angle-of-arrival satisfies an outer-threshold-value. 
     
     
       5. The receiver system of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the first-weighting-values comprise a plurality of first-antenna-weighting-values, one for each of the plurality of antenna-signals; 
 the second-weighting-values comprise a plurality of second-antenna-weighting-values, one for each of the plurality of antenna-signals. 
 
     
     
       6. The receiver system of  claim 5 , wherein the first-weighting-application-block is configured to:
 multiply each of the first-antenna-weighting-values by the information that corresponds to the first-frequency-bin of an associated one of the plurality of antenna-signals in order to provide a plurality of first-antenna-weighted-signals; and 
 add the plurality of first-antenna-weighted-signals together in order to provide the weighted-first-frequency-bin-signal. 
 
     
     
       7. The receiver system of  claim 5 , wherein the second-weighting-application-block is configured to:
 multiply each of the second-antenna-weighting-values by the information that corresponds to the second-frequency-bin of an associated one of the plurality of antenna-signals in order to provide a plurality of second-antenna-weighted-signals; and 
 add the plurality of second-antenna-weighted-signals together to provide the weighted-second-frequency-bin-signal. 
 
     
     
       8. The receiver system of  claim 1 , wherein the first-weighting-determination-block is configured to set the first-weighting-values based on the second-weighting-values for constructively combining the information that corresponds to the first-frequency-bins of the plurality of antenna-signals. 
     
     
       9. The receiver system of  claim 8 , wherein the first-weighting-determination-block is configured to:
 determine adjusted-second-weighting-values by modifying the second-weighting-values based on a spatial covariance matrix of the information in the plurality of antenna-signals that corresponds to the first-frequency-bin; and 
 set the first-weighting-values as the adjusted-second-weighting-values. 
 
     
     
       10. The receiver system of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of antenna-signals also each comprise information that corresponds to a third-frequency-bin, the receiver system further comprising:
 a third-AoA-block configured to determine a third-angle-of-arrival associated with the third-frequency-bin; 
 a third-weighting-determination-block configured to, based on the third-angle-of-arrival and the second-angle-of-arrival, either:
 set third-weighting-values as values for constructively combining the information that corresponds to the third-frequency-bins of the plurality of antenna-signals; or 
 set third-weighting-values as values for destructively combining the information that corresponds to the third-frequency-bins of the plurality of antenna-signals; 
 
 a third-weighting-application-block configured to apply the third-weighting-values to the information that corresponds to the third-frequency-bin in the plurality of antenna-signals in order to provide a weighted-third-frequency-bin-signal; and 
 wherein the signal-combining-block is configured to combine the weighted-first-frequency-bin-signal, the weighted-second-frequency-bin-signal and the weighted-third-frequency-bin-signal in order to provide the output-signalling. 
 
     
     
       11. The receiver system of  claim 10 , wherein the third-AoA-block comprises:
 an inner-third-AoA-block configured to determine an inner-third-angle-of-arrival associated with an inner-subset of the third-frequency-bin; 
 an outer-third-AoA-block configured to determine an outer-third-angle-of-arrival associated with an outer-subset of the third-frequency-bin; 
 wherein the third-weighting-determination-block is configured to: 
 determine an outer-third-angle-difference-value as the difference between the outer-third-angle-of-arrival and the second-angle-of-arrival; 
 if the outer-third-angle-difference-value is less than an outer-threshold-value, then:
 set third-weighting-values as values for constructively combining the information that corresponds to the third-frequency-bins of the plurality of antenna-signals; 
 
 determine an inner-third-angle-difference-value as the difference between the inner-third-angle-of-arrival and the second-angle-of-arrival;
 if the inner-third-angle-difference-value is less than a predetermined proportion of the outer-third-angle-difference-value, then set third-weighting-values as values for constructively combining the information that corresponds to the third-frequency-bins of the plurality of antenna-signals; 
 if the inner-third-angle-difference-value is greater than the predetermined proportion of the outer-third-angle-difference-value, then set third-weighting-values as values for destructively combining the information that corresponds to the third-frequency-bins of the plurality of antenna-signals. 
 
 
     
     
       12. The receiver system of  claim 11 , wherein the third-weighting-application-block is configured to apply the third-weighting-values to the information that corresponds to the entire third-frequency-bin in the plurality of antenna-signals in order to provide the weighted-third-frequency-bin-signal. 
     
     
       13. The receiver system  claim 1 , wherein the first-AoA-block comprises:
 an inner-first-AoA-block configured to determine an inner-first-angle-of-arrival associated with an inner-subset of the first-frequency-bin; 
 an outer-first-AoA-block configured to determine an outer-first-angle-of-arrival associated with an outer-subset of the first-frequency-bin; 
 wherein the first-weighting-determination-block is configured to: 
 determine an outer-first-angle-difference-value as the difference between the outer-first-angle-of-arrival and the second-angle-of-arrival; 
 if the outer-first-angle-difference-value is less than an outer-threshold-value, then:
 set first-weighting-values as values for constructively combining the information that corresponds to the first-frequency-bins of the plurality of antenna-signals; 
 
 determine an inner-first-angle-difference-value as the difference between the inner-first-angle-of-arrival and the second-angle-of-arrival;
 if the inner-first-angle-difference-value is less than a predetermined proportion of the outer-first-angle-difference-value, then set first-weighting-values as values for constructively combining the information that corresponds to the first-frequency-bins of the plurality of antenna-signals; 
 if the inner-first-angle-difference-value is greater than the predetermined proportion of the outer-first-angle-difference-value, then set first-weighting-values as values for destructively combining the information that corresponds to the first-frequency-bins of the plurality of antenna-signals. 
 
 
     
     
       14. The receiver system of  claim 13 , wherein the first-weighting-application-block is configured to apply the first-weighting-values to the information that corresponds to the entire first-frequency-bin in the plurality of antenna-signals in order to provide the weighted-first-frequency-bin-signal. 
     
     
       15. The receiver system of  claim 13 , wherein the second-weighting-application-block is configured to apply the second-weighting-values to the information that corresponds to the entire second-frequency-bin in the plurality of antenna-signals in order to provide a weighted-second-frequency-bin-signal.